I'm a Little Teapot
by Tracy Diane Miller
Summary: Gary recalls his childhood acting "debut."


I'm a Little Teapot  
  
Summary: Gary reflects on his childhood acting "debut." This very short story is a writing challenge issued to me by Janet.  
  
Disclaimer: Jennifer Szabo Metcalf Hobson is my own creation. Early Edition characters belong to whoever created them. No copyright infringement intended. No profit is being made.  
  
I dedicate this story to Janet who can always see the sun shining through the storm clouds.  
  
Author's Notes: This story is part of the continuing series that began with "Mirror Image." "Mirror Image" was an Early Edition/Homefront crossover story where Gary was inexplicably transported to 1946 River Run, Ohio and met and bonded with his mirror image, aspiring baseball player, Jeff Metcalf. "To Love & New Beginnings" is the sequel to "Mirror Image." In "To Love & New Beginnings", a broken-hearted Gary, now back in his own time period, meets and falls in love with Jennifer Szabo Metcalf, the spunky actress and granddaughter of Jeff Metcalf. And in "Destiny Fulfilled", the newlyweds, Jennifer and Gary, await the birth of their first children and confront enemies from the past and present.  
  
Anyone interested in reading my continuing series can find them at Phoenix Arises: The Fanfiction Store at the web site address that appears below:  
  
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jennifermetcalf214  
  
Author: Tracy Diane Miller E-mail address: tdmiller82@hotmail.com  
  
I'm a Little Teapot  
  
"You think Mr. Spellman has some other agenda?" Jennifer inquired.  
  
Mud green eyes gazed deeply into her eyes. "Yes. I didn't tell you this before, but around the time we were engaged, there was this tabloid article in the paper about us. The article announced our engagement and then said that 'it would be interesting to see whether Hobson can make this marriage last'. I was having all those problems with your dad at the time so that article didn't exactly endear me to him since it made it seem as if I had all these discarded wives out there."  
  
"Honey, I'm sorry. You should have told me about it. That article was just yellow journalism." Jennifer commented.  
  
"I know. And Marissa said that people would be interested in you because you were a celebrity. I hadn't really thought about your celebrity status before then. I mean, your show was just beginning to take off. But there's something else. The article quoted 'a source close to the couple'. Our family and friends wouldn't have talked to the press about us. So who was this source?" Gary wondered.  
  
"Tabloids always make up things and then use the 'source close to the couple' tag. It doesn't mean anything." Jennifer contended.  
  
"What if it does? What if it means that Spellman has a spy on the set watching you and reporting back to him so he can leak information to the press? Now that I'm on the set, it will easier for me to snoop around. It will also be easier for us to control what news about us is leaked."  
  
"And Mr. Spellman will sympathize with you, the poor, no talent, aspiring actor husband whose tormented by the pregnant and hormonal wife who resents that her husband is on her turf, right?"  
  
"Exactly, honey. Although the 'no talent' part is wrong. I was in a Shakespearean play with Crumb once and I did a pretty good job." Gary revealed.  
  
"You and Crumb did Shakespeare? I'm sorry, honey, but I really can't  
  
picture that." Jennifer said, laughing. "Did you wear tights?" She added,  
  
still laughing.  
  
"Enough already! It wasn't that funny." Gary said, slightly annoyed. "And that wasn't the first time that I was on stage."  
  
"Really? So when was the first time you were on the stage."  
  
Oh Boy.  
  
"Never mind. Let's just forget it, huh?"  
  
"No, I don't want to forget it. And you were the one who brought it up. When was the first time you were on stage?" Jennifer asked, her Metcalf curiosity clearly piqued.  
  
A brief silence.  
  
"Gary?"  
  
Gary rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. "I played a teapot in second grade." He mumbled.  
  
"You what?"  
  
"I played a teapot in second grade." He revealed a slight blush on his face.  
  
Jennifer smiled. She gently caressed his face. "I bet that you were the cutest and best teapot there ever was. Please tell me the story. Please?"  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Hickory Township Elementary School: May 3, 1972  
  
Scared little mud green eyes watched from behind the green velvet curtain on the stage. There were so many people out there in the audience and they would be looking at him. He didn't want to do this. He could see Mommy sitting in the front row center. She had the camera. She was smiling. Daddy was sitting next to her talking to another parent. Daddy seemed happy, too. He wished that he could just go home and hide underneath the covers. But he couldn't disappoint his parents.  
  
His stomach was hurting. He prayed that he wouldn't get sick right there on stage. All the kids would laugh at him if that happened.  
  
He felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder. He turned around, frightened eyes meeting the concerned eyes of his teacher. "Are you okay, Gary?" Mrs. Douglas asked.  
  
"Yes, Ma'am." He whispered politely but unconvincingly.  
  
She flashed him a reassuring smile. "You will do just fine. And look, your Mommy and Daddy are right there." She said, pointing to Lois and Bernie. "They are so proud of you. I'm proud of you, too. Get ready. You're up right after Samuel Adams."  
  
He managed a weak smile, but the butterflies were roaring forcefully inside of his stomach. He had seen a butterfly last weekend when Daddy took him on that camping trip. It was so pretty and quiet. But not these butterflies inside of his stomach. They seemed very angry.  
  
Samuel Adams, otherwise known as Donald Creeman, was talking very loudly and very confidently. That was Donald. Donald always had to be the center of attention. Donald didn't seem scared at all.  
  
When Mrs. Douglas told the class three weeks ago that since they were learning about the Boston Tea Party, she thought that it would be fun if the class put on a play about the Boston Tea Party and invite the parents to see their presentation. The class was surprisingly enthusiastic. The children were raising their hands to be chosen for a part. Everyone wanted to be in the play. Everyone except for him. All he wanted at that moment was to go to the bathroom. He kept shifting uncomfortably in the chair. The class wasn't going to be over for another twenty minutes. He listened as Mrs. Douglas assigned all the parts; well, he thought that she assigned all the parts. He raised his hand seeking permission to leave the class to go to the bathroom. But Mrs. Douglas realized that she had forgotten one of the most important parts- the "symbolic" empty teapot that remained after the chests of tea were thrown into Boston Harbor by American patriots in opposition to the tax imposed on tea by the British. Mrs. Douglas misinterpreted why he had raised his hand. He was cast as the teapot.  
  
Mommy had been working at the school that day helping out with preparations for an upcoming event organized by the PTA. When school finally let out that day, he was supposed to wait in class for her. Mommy came to the classroom where Mrs. Douglas quickly told her about the play and his part. Mommy's face lit up as bright as a Christmas tree. She was so happy and proud.  
  
He couldn't let her down.  
  
Samuel Adams finally decided to shut up. Mrs. Douglas gestured for him to go out on stage. He heard her, but he couldn't move. It took more soothing words and nearly ten minutes before the "teapot" appeared on stage.  
  
"Gary! Gary! Honey, look over here, look at Mommy." The familiar loud voice boomed. He looked in his mother's direction. A bright camera flash assaulted his eyes.  
  
"Isn't he cute? That's my baby right there, the one in the teapot costume." Lois cooed to the parent seated in back of her.  
  
"Way to go, kiddo!" Daddy chimed. Daddy was beaming with that wide Cheshire cat grin that was his trademark.  
  
Gary was only on stage for five minutes, but they were the longest five minutes of his young life. He stammered nervously through his lines. They weren't many, but they were enough to cause the painfully shy little boy incredible anxiety. Here he had been thrust into the spotlight all because he had raised his hand for permission to go to the bathroom and his teacher had misunderstood him.  
  
"I am a empty teapot because all of the tea is swimming in the harbor. No taxes on tea."  
  
After he finished his lines, he glanced at Mommy. She and Daddy had jumped up from their seats and were clapping very loudly. Then Mommy and Daddy sat back down. Mommy was smiling, but she was crying, too. He would never understand grownups. They don't make any sense. Why do they cry when they're happy? He cried when he was sad or when he hurt himself.  
  
A "star" was reluctantly born that day.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
"And that's the story." He said.  
  
Jennifer's eyes welled with tears. "What a sweet story." She gushed, her voice choked by emotion.  
  
"Please tell me that you aren't going to cry." He asked.  
  
"I'm not." She reassured even as a stray tear or two escaped from her eyes and fled down her cheek. "I was nervous too when I played a chicken in a school play."  
  
"I know. Jeff told me the story. You were a chicken and I was a teapot. Do you suppose that our little one here will become an actor when he grows up?" He inquired, his hand gently caressing her stomach.  
  
She smiled. "Maybe. Or, she might want to become a lawyer or a doctor. But whatever career she chooses, she will be blessed because she'll have the most wonderful daddy in the world."  
  
"And the best and most beautiful mother. I love you."  
  
"I love you, too." She echoed as their lips met for a tender kiss.  
  
Already a strong performer, Baby Hobson offered an enthusiastic kick.  
  
Only time would tell whether another little teapot would grace a Chicago stage.  
  
The End. 


End file.
